CH 65

Chapter 65 Defeated

Zhou Tian weighed the silver bracelet and noticed that the weight was wrong, so he immediately used a dagger to carefully cut the outer layer, and found that the inside was really hollow. A piece of parchment was rolled into a thin strip and stuffed inside. He took it out, then spread it, and it was also a treasure map. The two pictures were compared with each other, and the overlapping parts were as high as 8 to 9 point, only the destination was slightly changed with a huge distance difference.

It was difficult for Zhou Tian to tell which one was real and which one was fake in a short period of time, but judging from Song shi‘s desperate expression and common sense, the latter was obviously more credible. He only saw that Song shi was the most anxious and looked guilty, in any case he couldn’t figure it out, but how this Madam Guan knew that she hid the drawing in the silver bracelet. Could she read minds?

Thinking like this, Zhou Tian bowed with his hands clasped, “Thank you for your help, Madam, but how did Madam know, I hope you can enlighten me.”

Guan Suyi liked to be a teacher, but she was extremely disgusted with such a cruel and ruthless person like Zhou Tian, so she coldly replied, “No comment”.

Zhou Tian was so angry with her that his nose was flared out, but because of the emperor’s order, he didn’t dare to make trouble, his eyes turned as he calculating carefully, smiled while saying, “Madam doesn’t want to tell me, but this Zhao Mansion still need this general’s help to offset the crime of sheltering major criminals. If Madam does not agree, this general will enter the palace and ask for a decree again.”

When he said this, he was also nervous in his heart. If it a different person, the emperor would definitely not care about the host’s feelings, if the other side didn’t cooperate, they would be charge with the ‘intention to rebel’ crime. But this Madam Guan was not an ordinary person. She was the beloved daughter of the Emperor Teacher and Chief of Ceremonies, and she had such an extraordinary appearance and talent. As a man, there was no reason for the emperor not to be fascinated, otherwise he would not call him alone to earnestly gave order and warned repeatedly, she obviously on the tip of his heart.

On this side, Guan Suyi also knew that the matter was big, and after a little thought, she made a decision, “Does the general want to put a long line to catch the big fish? Since its related to Xue The Thief, my Zhao family doesn’t dare to hinder. If you want to secretly arrange your troops, I only have one request, not to hurt anyone in my house, including the servants.”

The servant women who had been humiliated by the officers were wrapped in cloaks, cloth and other things, and hid behind Minglan and cried. After hearing this, they looked at Madam with fear and gratitude. Among them, many were the helper of the eldest miss, the eldest young master and liked to oppose Madam, and some of them secretly made trouble for Madam. At this moment, they all wished to turn back the time and slap themselves at back then. Madam was a good person, a very good person.

Zhou Tian said coldly, “It’s not your, a married woman, turn to order this general around. These people obstructed the search, and this general didn’t kill them on the spot is already giving face for Madam, still hope Madam doesn’t want a foot after given an inch. Although you can still keep the first-rank title, but this Marquis Zhenbei mansion is no longer Marquis Zhenbei Mansion, if this general is unhappy, he can destroy all of you in an instant!”

His eyes were red, his murderous aura was stern, and his hand was on the handle of the knife, which showed that he was already stirred up.

The mahogany gate he kicked was closed crookedly, and a line of guards holding swords and halberds stood under the steps outside the gate, preventing idle people from approaching. The bold ones stood on tiptoe and watched, although they couldn’t see anything, they discussed with great interest, “Yo, another raid! I said earlier when the Ye family was raid, the Zhao family would certainly not be able to escape. You see, isn’t come true?”

“Marquis Zhenbei was so powerful back then, and now he’s going to collapse. He is also a fool, knowing that the Ye family is not clean, and he dare to take in their family’s women, he deserves to be implicated.”

“How do you think the womenfolk of these two families should live? When the gate of the mansion is seal, they will be homeless. If anyone is involved in the case, it’s not impossible for them to be dragged to the market and sold as as slaves, or even worse, reduced to be official prostitute and sent to the military camp. Look, the person leading the team is General Zhou Tian, who is known as the Devil, it’s definitely impossible to escape this catastrophe.”

“That’s right, as soon as General Zhou made his move, blood would flow like a river! The Zhao family is really miserable this time! It’s just a pity that Madam Guan, such a loyal and martyr woman, has been dragged down to this point! If I were her, at this moment I would rush back to my maiden’s house, and beg them to ask for reconciliation, so as not to suffer with the Zhao family.”

“You soft egg, how dare you compare yourself with the iron-boned Madam Guan, you can’t disgrace others!” It’s unknown who spit out a sentence, which caused a lot of ridicule.

Zhou Tian guessed that there must be spies sent by Xue The Thief in the crowd, so he ordered his subordinates to change into civilian clothes and sneak in to observe.

The rumors outside the gate had spread all over, and inside the walls, all the Zhao Mansion listened to these words, and felt that they were doomed. Several young maids had been sobbing uncontrollably, for fear of being noticed by officers they had to block their mouth with their fists. But for a moment, the sky above the mansion was shrouded in miserable fogs, and the atmosphere of despair was suffocating.

Zhou Tian glanced at Madam Guan triumphantly, then sat back on the soft couch and said coldly, “Now this general has taken over this mansion. Madam would you please go back to your room and stay still, don’t walk around as you please. If Madam doesn’t heed the advice, don’t blame this general’s sword for having no eyes.”

The guards drew out their sabers in response to the scene, and the metal sound of “whooshing” pierced people’s eardrums.

If it changed to a timid woman, she might have fainted at this moment, and no matter how bold the woman was, she would definitely be captured by a strong murderous aura and become timid. However, Guan Suyi had such a tenacity to not admit defeat. If others wanted to crush her, even if she broke her legs, she must move forward on her knees, and she would never compromise.

In the last life, if it wasn’t for the future of the women in the clan, and to lessen the burden on her family, she would never cut her way to survive. If her own death could make the Guan family cleaner, to have an easier time, what was she afraid of? She was not even afraid of death, would she still afraid of these swords and halberds?

Thinking like this, she smiled coldly, and raised her hand at Jinzi, “Fetch the plaque that was just made the day before yesterday, today is a good day, we will open the mansion now.”

Jinzi returned the baby in her hands to the pale-faced wet nurse, and thrown a murderous look at Zhou Tian before going down to fetch the thing.

Guan Suyi slowly rolled up her sleeves and said indifferently, “Forgot to tell the general, my Zhao family just decided to divide the mansion the day before yesterday, you can use this east side for arranging the troops, but if you set your foot on my west side, and hurt anyone without reason, don’t blame this Madam for accusing you of disrespecting one’s superior and abusing power.”

“Dividing the mansion? Divided into what mansion?” Zhou Tian felt bad, just as he was about to ask, he saw Jinzi move a blank plaque with a black background and blue edges, placed it on the long table, and then respectfully presented a writing brush and a bowl of gold paint.

Guan Suyi held the brush with one hand and rolled up her sleeves with the other, dipped a thick smear of gold paint and quickly wrote the three characters “General Zhengbei Mansion”, dried it slightly, and ordered, “Come on two servants, hang this plaque on the west gate. General Zhou, I will take the people from the mansion, and hand over the East mansion to you, please feel free to do whatever you want.” After the words fell, she flung her sleeves, her skirts were flapping, and the person had gone far away.

The people in the East Mansion were very aware of the opportunity, they understood that Madam was protecting them, and hurriedly followed suit. When Zhou Tian returned to his senses, all the courtyards in the East Mansion had long since been empty, and only Ye Mansion’s family members and servants were still detained on the ground, full of despair.

“Fuck! I forgot about that shitty Zhao Jinyu!” Zhou Tian gritted his teeth with hatred, but he couldn’t take Madam Guan. If this Zhao Mansion still bore the name of Marquis Zhenbei, after Zhao Luli’s nobility was stripped off, logically, he could smashed this place to pieces, and others could not catch any mistakes. When Zhao Jinyu got the letter and sent people to come to rescue, a few months would have passed and it was enough for him to trample the Zhao family to death.

However, Madam Guan’s thoughts were so fast that she even already built the plaque of “General Zhengbei Mansion” and hung it on the gate. Who would dare to touch the Zhao family? Zhao Jinyu was a major general on the Su border with outstanding achievements. Although he was implicated by his brother and had to act in a low-key manner, he was not an easy person to deal with. He had quite a bit of background in the army, and it was easy to suppress a General of the Household.

Zhou Tian smashed the teacup and said embarrassingly, “Leave these little cubs and wet nurses behind, and the rest will be sent to the Heavenly Prison!”

A lieutenant raised a point in a low voice, “General, if there is no one in the East Mansion, how can you put a show for those traitors? This matter still needs Madam Guan’s full cooperation.”

Zhou Tian stared at him with blood-red eyes, and then slowly laughed. Good,  what a good strategy, Madam Guan! She clearly knew her own plans, and also knew that this show could not be performed without her cooperation, but she went so swiftly, and took all the servants away, leaving only an empty shell for him. She didn’t say anything, and she didn’t hesitate at all. This was to force him to apologize!

The person who could make the emperor put them on the tip of his heart, but couldn’t ask for it, definitely extraordinary. Well, since even the emperor couldn’t deal with her, then how about him? Thinking like this, Zhou Tian finally calmed down, and raised his voice to order, “Whoever beat people or stripped off their clothes just now? Follow this general to kowtow to Madam and apologize. If Madam doesn’t forgive you, go back by yourself and take fifty sticks !”

He was extremely strict, and everyone did not dare to be disobedient, so they came forward one by one to confess their sins and then went to the West Mansion to kowtow and admit their mistakes.

There were many people on the street outside the Mansion to watch the fun. Although the guards used the sword and halberd to push them out of the way, but they were unwilling to leave, pointing to the broken plaque and sighed, “This is already the second plaque that has been trampled to pieces in Yanjing. Such a big official family collapses on the spot in an instant. The world is really impermanent.”

“I heard that the Ye family and the Zhao family are rich in beauties. If the womenfolk of the two mansions are also guilty and dragged to the market to be sold, I will definitely buy two and go back to make them concubines! Think about it, they were originally serving high officials and nobles. The taste must be endlessly interesting!” It’s unknown who was laughing obscenely, and then there was a sound of applause.

Just at this moment, the door of the West Mansion opened, and several servants carefully lifted out a plaque, set up a ladder, and slowly hung it on the gate beam. When everyone looked at it, they couldn’t help being horrified. They saw three big characters written in gold paint on it – General Zhengbei Mansion. The brushstrokes of iron painting silver hooks and the vast and majestic momentum were breathtaking.

“General Zhengbei? The second master of the Zhao Mansion? Mother, I almost forgot about this killing god. Let’s go, let’s go! No matter how down the Zhao family is, we can’t mess with them!” In a flash the gate of the mansion was empty, and even the guard who was raiding and guarding showed a look of awe, and unknowingly lowered their sword and halberd and extinguished their arrogance.